Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
three-mile limit

three-mile limit

1 7.5
A line three miles from a country's coast that marks the sea it controls
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : línea de tres millas
  • Many countries enforce their laws within the three-mile limit.

Examples

  • Fishing boats are only allowed to operate inside the three-mile limit off the coast.

  • Debates over extending the three-mile limit ultimately led to broader territorial claims.

  • The fishing boats were seized for operating inside the three-mile limit of national waters.

  • Until the 20th century, the three-mile limit was commonly accepted by many countries.

  • The fishing boats operate just outside the three-mile limit.

  • The coast guard monitors activities beyond the three-mile limit to enforce fishing regulations.

  • Tourists can enjoy various water sports within the three-mile limit of the nation's beaches.

Synonyms

territorial waters
vsthree-mile limit
  • Specialized
6 4.9

The area of sea near a country's coast that the country controls

is a former narrow boundary set at three nautical miles instead of a broader limit

Surface Forms

three-mile limit singular
three-mile limits plural

Morphology

three-mile + limit

The phrase is fully compositional: 'three-mile' denotes a distance of three miles and 'limit' means a boundary, so a learner who knows the constituent words can derive that it refers to a boundary three miles from the coast. This measurement + boundary construction is common and follows regular English compounding patterns, making the meaning transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

Three-mile limit comes from an old rule that a country said it owned the sea as far as a cannon could fire from the shore—about three miles—so the three-mile line became the country's water limit, meaning the 'boundary' of its waters.